I came across this adorable overload of a snow leopard at the Akron zoo frolicking in the snow.  I’m not going to tell you how many times I watched the video because then I’d have to come to terms with all of the homework I should have gotten done instead.  The zoo snow leopard is squeal-inducing-cute, unlike the visibly dangerous snow leopards on Planet Earth:

Snow leopards, like most (all?) large cats, are endangered and between population pressure, poaching, and climate change, their prospects aren’t looking good.  Maybe we should take the advice of the author of Maybe One: A Case for Smaller Families (and a bunch of other people) and consider not having kids or adopting if you want a large family.  If you live in the US, not having kids is the absolute best thing you can do for the environment:

[It] would save 9,441 tonnes of CO2 – almost six times, on average, the amount of CO2 they would emit in their own lifetime, or the equivalent of making around 2,550 return aero plane trips between London and New York. If the same American drove a more fuel-efficient car, drastically reduced his or her driving, installed energy-efficient windows, used energy-efficient lightbulbs, replaced a household refrigerator, and recycled all household paper, glass and metal, he or she would save fewer than 500 tonnes. [emphasis mine]

The enormous environmental impact is just one of the reasons I’m not planning on having children. I don’t think people shouldn’t have children, of course, but I think having children shouldn’t be expected.  I think many more people would be childless and happy if there wasn’t a constant message from society (and our mothers…) that we should settle down & have kids.